Automatic conveyer



Feb. 15, 1944. 'y l N. L. nAvls 2,342,038

- AUTOMATIC CONVEYER Filed June 2o, 1942 e sheets-sheet 1 N w. n.l l n' w.' w l? L@ l I w "1 @mi E@ Ex .l lf N V ELs-O l :J N\. EIM w I M' l .n

' N. L DAvls AyTQMATIc coNvEYER vmeel .June 2o, 1942 Feb. 15,'1944.

6 Sheets-Sheet. 2

y sneet-shet s l Feb. 15, 1944. N. DAVIS AUTOMATIC GONVEYERy Filed June 2o, 1942 N. L. DAVIS AUTOMATIC coNvEYER Filed June 20, 1942 6 sheets-sheet 4 "Huhu, P w O hh N.

Feb. 15; 1944. vN. L. DAVIS y AUTOMATIC coNvYER' 1942 sheets-sheet s Filed June 2O In efe/afar JQZSOJ@ ayas" N. L. DAVIS AUTOMATIG coNvEYER Filed June 2O Feb. 15,1944.

, 1942 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Patented Feb. 15, 1944 UNITEo 4s'lAri-:s PATENT OFFICE- AU'roMA'rlc coNvEYEa s Nelson L. Davis,- Chicago, lll., assigner to Link# Belt Company, Chicago, lll., a corporation of Illinois .Application June 20, 1942, Serial No. 447,807

(ci. 19a-143) 20 Claims.

with such a conveyer, discharge 'control mechanism whereby one or more discharge receptacles or conduits may simultaneously be` supplied with the proper amount of material during continuous operation; and to combine in a single unit the functions of. conveyer, feeder 4and discharger. Other objects will appear: from time to time throughout the specification and claims.

My invention is illustrated more orless diagrammatically in the accompanying drawings,

wherein- `Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view; Figure 2 is a diagrammatic side elevation; Figure 3 isa section on an enlarged scale along the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a section along thel line 4-4 of' Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a section on an enlarged scale along vthe line 5-5 of FigureZ;

Venlarged scale;

Figure 9 is a section along the line 9--9 of Fig- Figure 10 is a section along the line IIl-I'Il of Figure 6;

Figure l1 is a section similar to Figure 8 except that the parts are shown in a different position;

Figure 12 is a section along the line I2--I2 of Figure 10;

Figure 13 is a. plan view in part section of the idler end of the conveyer.

Like parts are indicated by like characters throughout the specification and drawings.

I, 2, are two arms of a continuous conduit, joined at one, end by a closedliousing 3, rigidly attached to the arms i, 2, and at the other end by a housing 4 which has sleeve extensions 5, telescoping with the arms I, 2. and thehousing 3 are rigidly mounted on a framework shown diagrammatically at 6. The

housing 4 is slidably mounted on the sub-frame 'I and as will hereinafter appear, slack in the conveyer c han istaken up by longitudinal movement of the housing under the impulsel of the counterweight II connected by cable 8 passing o verv pulleys 9 and I0 withthe housing. 4.

`I2 and i3 are conveyer chain sprockets, one

veach in the housings 3 and 4. VI4 is an endless conveyer chain `illustrated diagrammatically in Figure 1 by dash lines, traveling over the sprockets I2, I3 and carrying conveyer buckets as will hereinafter appear. The shaft I5 journaled at I6 and I1 carries rigidly mounted thereon, a drive gear 'I4 and a conveyer'sprocket I2. I8 is a pinion in mesh with the gear I4 driven through a reduction gear I9 from a motor 20. The sleeves 5 permit movement of the housing 4 without breaking the-dust seal and without opening the conduit. The branches I, '2 and the housings 3, 4

have iloors 28 and side Walls 26, 21 and are closed. at the topby a removable cover shown diagram-A matically at 2 I, 22 is a feeder housing mounted on the cover 2| of the branch 2 and is adapted to receive material through any suitable supply pipe 23; The housing 22 has a hopper 24 and a cover 25. l

Spaced inwardly from the side walls 26, 21 are track strips 29 supported on webs 30 projecting inwardly fromvthe side Walls, thus ample clearance is left between the walls 26 and 21 and the track strips 29. Conveyer buckets V3 I,- some or all 'of them, having roller shafts 32 which 'carry anged wheels 33 to travel along the track strips 29, have upwardly extending flanges 34 to engage links 35 or 36 of the chain I4, there being one link for each bucket. The links are -articulated by pintle pins 3l so as to makea continuous drive chain propelling and 'supported on the buckets 3|. The chain I4 travels around the sprockets I2 and I3 and is always supported above the level of the buckets and above and to one side of the material containedin the buckets. vents abrasion and clogging of the chain.

Each bucket includes two hoppers 38 and 39; the front wall of each hopper 38 is masked 'by the lip 40 extending rearwardly from the back hopper 39 of the preceding bucket so that when the buckets are in line they present a continuous surface, the lip of each preceding bucket overg lying the adjacent wall of the succeeding bucket.

This overlap is effective-always .whenever the l having a downwardly extending discharge spout This lpre-` lip 40. The spout 4| h'as side walls 42 carrying downwardly extending flexible scraping members or squeegees' whichmay actually come in contact with the lip 4l.,` The downstream spout wall 44 has a squeegse 45 which comes down also to just touch the lip 40. The squeegees 43 and 45 may be of rubber as indicated, held in position I by strips 46, and nut and bolt combinations 41 or may be of any other suitable flexible material.

If desired, the spout 4I maycome down almost to contact withthe lip 40; preferably, however. in order to avoid binding, it is well to have some flexible medium between the lower end of. the spout and the lip 4I.

As the conveyer buckets are moved in the d1- rection of arrows shownin Figure 3, with the hopper 24 containing a suillcient supply of material, the material flows through the spout 4I to iill each successive bucket as it passes beneath the' spout. the size of the spout being suillcient with respect to the speed of bucket travel so that by the time the bucket has passedthe spout, the bucket will be filled level. Surcharging or overfilling of the bucket is impossible because as the material fills the bucket and banks up in the spout, the actual contact of the squeegees 43 and 45 provides a closed system to prevent any appreciable overflowing of the material. Thus each bucket is level lled and goes forward in a level illled condition after it has left the feed spout.

Wear-strips 48 are disposed along the floor 28 of the conduits. These wear strips support bucket gates 49, pivoted at 58 on the under forward sides of each of the bucket hoppers 38 and `39. The bucket hoppers have triangular bottom 'discharge ports 5i extending upwardly from the lower edges `of the downwardly and rearwardly inclined walls 52 which mask the pivot axes of the bucket gates. 53 is a shield or shroud extendbucket hopper, as shown in Figures 3 and 5. The,

gate 49 is dish-shaped having upwardly and outwardly extending inclined walls 58. The slope of the shroud 53 is substantially equal tothe angle of repose of the material discharged-through the port 5i so that under ordinary/ circumstances, there is a clearance at 51 between the shroud 53 and the material. If this clearance were not present, upward movement of the gate 49 .with respect to the bucket would not be possible without jamming, lifting the bucket'oi its wheels, or crushing the material. When the gate 49 is rotated upwardly the material between the bucket and the gate maybe forced into the clearance without any harm being done. The shroud 53 and the inclined wall 52 all terminate within the area bounded by and slig y below the outer edges of the gate 49, thus while here might under some circumstances be a slight up pressure 'or up-ilow of the material around this area within the periphery of the gate, such up-gow is not suiilcient to cause spillage of material about the I periphery of the gate 49.

, If there were no discharge from the conduit and if the wear strips 4t were continued throughout and if the buckets traveled 'around with material being fed to the hopper 24, a situation would tutimately en'sue' where the wholesystem, that is, every bucket would be nlled. `that situation prevailed, vthen there would be no outilow from the hopper 24 into the buckets. The buckets would merely pass beneath the hopper, the mass of material in the buckets would maintain a continuous closure to prevent outilow from the chute 4| 'and `the buckets would continue to operate without any binding or jamming or spillage of material.

Spacedalong the conduits I and 2, are a plurality of discharge hoppers it'. vThere may be one or more and they may be associated with conduit l or 2 or both. These discharge hoppers are especially well illustrated in Figures 10 and 1l. The iloor l2l and the -wear strips 4 terminate at the upstream and downstream sides of vthe hopper 58. The hopper has inclined floors II. 8|, discharging into a chute l2 which may be controlled by a manually adjusted sliding gate 63 or b'yl: any suitable means as desired.v Extendingfacross-the hopper in general alignment with the wear strips 28, are'two or more fixed discharge cams 64. At each endj the upper surface of these cams 64 areYinho'rizontalisillgllf-v ment 'with the upper surfaces ofthe wear strips 48. Intermediate their ends, the cam surfaces 65 cause gradual-opening and then gradual closing of the gates 49 as the bucket travels tothe right. This is important because if the gates ever suddenly opened and closed as the bucketsA pass along, shock on the mechanism would cause excessive wear and violent movementof the gates would tend to throw the material and thereby cause degradation and deposit on thel conduit oor.

If only the 'cams were provided,` each bucket as it passed over the hopper 'would spill its load until the discharge hopper 59 was full. To insure adequate supply and proper "control, it is desirable that the maximum capacity of the conrise above the cam surfaces 65, the doors 49v would drag along the surface of the 'material and an excess amount of material would be scraped forwardly into the downstream side of the conveyer conduit. This would result in clogging the' conveyer conduit, thereby increasing rigidly mounted in the shaft il between andengaging the ears 'I0 joining the lever ll and fork 1|. Cams 'I2 are suitably spaced along the chain and removable from the chain for replacement if necessary. 0n the end of` each of the levers 'L0 is a removable wear plate i12. The

cams 'i2' contact this wear plate as the chain travels along and raises the control arms I6 into the upper position as'shown in Figure ll under which circumstances, 'the gates 4S will travel along the bars and no discharge will take place. Unlessthe discharge hopper is full, the arma 6l will as soon as the cam has passed on, assume the position-shown in Figure 8 and then whenever a bucket passes over the discharge hopper, the gate 49 will open and the bucket will discharge, tending to fill the hopper 59, this'will -continue until the discharge hopper 59 is full.

When the hopper59 is substantially full, as s oon as one of the cams 12 engages the lever 68, the

`arms 66 will be raised to the position shown in Figure 11. It is leasy enough for the arms66 to come up through the loosje material in the discharge hopper but if the material in the discharge hopper has reached such a' position as is shown in Figure 11, when the cam 12 passes on. the arms 66 will rest upon, and be held in the raised position by the material in the hopper and no further discharge will take place from the buckets as they pass over.

This situation prevails until as the material is vdrained out of the discharge hopper, the arms 66 will tend to fall through an intermediate partial discharge position to the maximum discharge position shown in Figure 8.

As the bucket discharges, the gate 49 will be gradually closed by contact with the arms 66 or the cams 64. By coordinating thenumber of cams on the chain with the bucket capacity, the

`rateof bucket travel and the rate of Withdrawal the arms 66 is' prevented. 'I'he clearance beneath. the shield 53 permits the closure of the gate 49 even though the bucket stillccntains material which might otherwise-be discharged.

Thereis, of course, always the possibility that a certainamount, usually a very small amount, of material may nd its way into the conduit itcam passes by, the ldischarge control arms. Adrop back to the maximum discharge position.

When material is fedto the supply hopper,

each bucket-as it passes under the loading spout will be fully or partially-filled. No more than a full bucket quantity, however, can be supplied becauseas soon as thebucket is full, the material in the bucket backs up'to close the loading spout and prevent further discharge therefrom. No material spills between the buckets because the lip of one bucket overhangs the front wall of the bucket immediately backsof it.. No material spills over the sides of the buckets vbecause the loading spout is narrow enough with respect to the bucket width t0 prevent spillage.

Each bucket as it travels forwardly will reach each discharge station` or hopper. The bucket gate will no longer be held ln closed position,

but will be free to gently lower to discharge position, and the bucket willdischarge all or part Y raises the bucket gate control arms upwardly,

'through the material contained in the discharge hopper, thus'forming a .continuation of the conduit bottom or wear plates and causing the bucket doors vto travel across the discharge stationswithout any discharge. As soon as the cam has passed on if the hopper is empty the arms vwill again' assume the discharge position .but if the hopper or discharge stationis full the arms will rest on the material therein and no more material will position. Inherent in the operation of the apparatus is be discharged at that particular station until sufficient material has'been withdrawn therefrom to permit' the control arms to lower to discharge the fact that'the rate of possible supply of material by the buckets is greater than the rate of maximum possible discharge at any individual self beneath the buckets. In order that such ma- I terial may-be quickly removed, a scraper blade 15 is provided, preferably of rubber or other flexible similar'material. It is notched at 16 to straddle the wear plates 48, is supported on a4 rigid. blade 11, which bladel is supported on arms 18 pivoted on a shaft 19. The shaft 19 is associated with a dummy bucket hopper 80 which is closed at its top as indicated at 8l. This blade travels across the hopper being limited in its downward movement .by the stop 82 engaging a.

continuous conduit in the direction indicated by the arrows on Figures 1, 3 and 6. Under these circumstances each bucket gate as it passes over oneof the discharge hoppers or stations will be eased d own to and then gently eased up fromthe dumping or discharge position. During the remander of the travel of each bucket, the gate will rest and travel along the bottom of the conduit or tracks projecting upwardly from the conduit bottom. Periodically the cams on the chain4 will engage the discharge control'levers and move them to the up position but because there is no discharge station. As a result -`each discharge station is rapidly illled and as soon as it is lled, material is no longer discharged at that point but goes on-to discharge at some one of the succeeding discharge stations. Supply at the various dischargestations under normal operation is such that it is usuallyintermittent Aand the result is that at an early stage in the proceedings all the discharge stations will receive a sufficient supply of material to fill them. and thereafter they will be maintained practically lled because there will A operate so that a single bucket seldom completely discharges at one discharge station. Usually the material `at the discharge station is at such a level that the control arms float on the material somewhere between maximum'discharge and no discharge position and usually an individual bucket will pass over several discharge stations before it spills all of its contents.

The conduit is closed in this case but-may be' from the conduit through a closed supply hopper and' chute. Travel of the buckets is relatively slow so wind currents are not set up in the conduit. As a result of this, there is little if any vibration 'and because each bucket carries its measured load or material andbecause the material i'iows "and does not drop-into'the buckets and becau'sethe material ilows out of the buckets into the discharge'hoppers'instead of dropping. thereis practically no degradation of the material. There is no rubbing ory grinding as is common with certain types of vbulk iiow conveyers.

The only time the continuous upper surface of the conveyer bucket chain is disturbed is when the bucket chain passes around the end sprocket. At this time the overhanging flange or lipof the front bucket angularly departs from the forward Wall of the rear bucket'but this does noV hambecause the material is bythe arrangement of the feed spout maintained level with the top of the buckets and does not pile up; sowhen adjacent buckets angularly separate no material drops into the space between them.

These is, of course, always the possibility lthat vibration or defective operation of the apparatus onsome other calise may result in the deposit 'on the floor of the conduit of 'some undesired, unexpected materiaL If .this takes place, such material is immediately scraped along the iloor to the next discharge hopper and immediately discharged from the system. A Y

Under ordinary circumstances no moving parts are allowed to come together and compressmaterial directly between them. One exception, of course, to this is the feed spout where the rubber or exible spouttlips actually can engage the upper surfaces of the overhanging bucket lips, but this arrangement is such that little if any material is compressed between the bucket lips and the spout lips. The rubber squeegees tend to brush the material oil this surface. With respect to the discharge, there is clearance between the dish-shaped bucket gates and the chute dened by the shroud enclosing the discharge port. Under no circumstances of ordinary operation does there ever occur any contact between the surface of the bucket door or gate and the bucket except along the pivot axis. Flow is prevented because the clearance'between the bucket plate or gate and the discharge spout leading from the bucket is sufficient to insure that the an-gle of repose will prevent flow.

The shroud enclosing the'discharge stream from the bucket port under ordinary circumstances never runs full because the shroud is spaced above the upper boundary of the port and is on an angle substantially the same as the angle of repose of the material. The bucket gate is in the closed position normally horizontal and intercepts the ilow of material from the port through the shroud. The position of the bucket gate is such-that it does not touch the lower edge of the shroud but the walls of the bucket gate expand up above the plane defined bythe lower boundaries of the shroud. When the gate is opened, the material runs out through the shroud across the bucket gate. As the bucket gate is closed, ilow is intercepted and gradually decreases until it entirely stops. The upward movement of the bucket gate backs up the iiowing stream. The clearance between the stream and the shroud is suiilcient to compensate for the upward movement of the gate and so prevent jamming of material in the shroud, thus assisting to prevent degradation which might result from crushing of the material grains among themselves or from crushing of the material between thefmetal surfaces of shroud and gate,

there being no such metal to metal contact and a-ssaoss clearance in the ahi-oud;Y opening-and closing ot the gate results in a minimum of d.

In dealing `with materials of the type forwhich this apparatus is primarily intended, it is important that no violent-motion, no impact be imparted to the material. It thexbucket gate were allowed to drop suddenly as it passed over the discharge hopper, the material might be violently projected downwardly into the discharge' hopper and especially as the bucket passes over the downstream edge oi the hopper, the gate might be violently and suddenly snapped shut. This would tend to toss the material upwardly and tend to use a dusty condition which might easily result l5 an excess amount of the material being carried along the conduit beyond the discharge hopper.

The arrangement shown including the cam shaped limiting guide bars and the angularly movable discharge control arms insures that at the wide open position and at all Iintermediate positions up to the closed position, the action of the bucket door will be smooth and gradual and there will be no catapulting or violent projection of the material by the opening or closing of the door. v

The chain while it moves slowly, moves at a constant rate of speed and eachcam when it contacts the gatecontrol lever may hit it a very sharp blow. This blow is cushioned by the spring connection between the bucket discharge control bars and the lever, and the yielding impact member on the bucket control arms, cushions the shock when the arm is thrown suddenly to its upper position as shown in Figure l1. These two cushioning features, namely-the spring and the cushion plate or member, limit vibration and irnpact to a point which is'not deleterious to the ap 4paratus or to the material being handled.

If it is desired to take one or, more of the discharge hoppers out of operation, all that is necessary is to close the manually controlled discharge valve. The hopper will then ll up until such a point is reached that the gate control arms are cushioned on and supported by the material in the hopper after they have been raised to the closed position by the passage of one of the cams. Thereafter, until material is withdrawn from the discharge hopper no more material-can be fed to that particular hopper because the gate control arms hold each successive bucket gate in c losed position.

It is important that the spacing of the cams with respect to the rate of discharge of material from .the hoppers and with respect to the linear rate of travel of the chain be such that a cam comes by and raises the gate control arms to the closed position suftlciently often so that there is not time between successive cams for the hopper to fill up beyond its norma1 capacity. Once the hopper is full, the control arms, when raised by the cam will rest on the surface of the material in the full hopper, no further material can be fed to the hopper and material can never be piled up or overloaded, the hopper is never surcharged, and the bottom of the` bucket gate never comes into direct contact with material in the hopper. The bucket gate can thus never serve as a scraper or wiper to convey material from' an overcharged discharge hopper into the conveyer conduit beneath or in front of the bucket gate.

While I have illustrated a long link chain with a relatively long bucket attached to each link, each bucket having vtwo hoppers and twodisattacca charge gates, the effect desired might equally well be obtained by a different type of bucket and the two hopper bucket, is to be regarded as merely illustrative and an 'effort to obtain maximum ca'- pacity with minimum weight. Because of the fact that the conduit must be kept closed and because `of the fact that the buckets pass through the entire area of the conduit, a special type of take-up is needed, the conduit having commenced tele- Y scoping with respect to the fixed conduits sol that as the take up moves under tensiony of the counterweight toA compensate for wear` in the chain, the conduit remains continuous and closed.

The material is continuously traveling through the conduit system in separate self-contained and separately supported batches. The material in each bucket is supported, conveyed and carried without any frictional eiect applied to the material. The only frictional resistance to the whole operation of the conveyer, except for the mechanlcal working resistance of bearings, etc., is

that between each bucket gate or door andthe wear strip but because the bucket gate is pivoted below the bucket, and because the .discharge from the bucket is through a comparatively small opening, the gate does not support the ventire column of material in the bucket. It only sup- A ports that part of it actually overlying the bucket with the discharge station and independent of the gate opening means for separately holding the gate closed as lt passes through the discharge station, said means including a movable arm and bucket closing 'position rests upon the material and is held in the bucket closing position independent ofthe cam.

3. In combination, a conveyer system including a plurality of movable buckets, means at some point in the systermfor filling each bucket level full, a discharge hopper adjacent the-path of the buckets and adapted to receive material i discharged from successive buckets asV they pass with the 'additional' pressure applied thereto caused by the pressure of material in the bucket and much of this pressure is supported on the Ainclined surfaces 52 and 5I.

While the buckets are Venclosed in a conduit having a closed bottom with wear strips to protect the apparatus and the material, it will be understood that the conduit might be omitted or it might have an open bottom. The' essential thing is that the wear -strips or tracks along which the bucket gates are delivered and .by which they are kept in the open position must be continuous throughout the system except where discharge is to take place. The individual buckets carry uniform successive batches'of ma'- terial from theloading to the discharging zones or stations and there il, as a result a minimum of degradation and no rubbing or abrasion of the l material as it is conveyed.

I claim: j 1. A conveyer including a bucket having a bottom discharge aperture, a gate controlling said aperture, means for holding the gate normally in closed position, `a discharge station alongthe path of travel of the bucket, means associated with the discharge station for first opening the gate as it enters the station yand for. thenclosing the gate as it leaves the station,'means associated with the discharge station and independent of adjacent the hopper, bucket discharge preventing means associated with the hopper normally in inoperative position, periodically operative means for moving the bucket discharge preventing means into operative position, said discharge preventing meansV being adapted to rest upon the material in the hopper and be held thereby in operative position when the hopper is full.

4. In a conveyer, a bucket, means. for lling it l from the top, a discharge port at theA bottom of the bucket, agate associated with the bucket beneath the port, a shroud projecting downward- 1y from the bottom wall of the bucketto form a chute closed by the gate, the cross sectional area enclosed by the shroud being greater than the cross sectional area of' the port. y y

5. In a conveyer, .a bucket,v .means .for filling s it from'the top, a discharge port at the bottom of the bucket, a gate associated with the bucket beneath the port, a shroud projecting downwardly from the bottom wall of the bucket to form a chute closed'by the gate, the cross sectional area enclosed bythe shroud being greater than the `cross sectional area of the port, Ameans for moving. the gate into and out of closed position, theI the gate opening means for separately holding the gate closed asV it passes through the discharge station, said means lincluding a movable arm and meansy for moving it4 into and out of position to engage the gate and hold it closed, the means for moving the arm into the gate Iclosing position' including a. cam movable with the bucket and adapted as itpasses through the discharge station to move the arm intobucketL closing position. s 2. A conveyer including a bucket having a bottom discharge aperture, a gate ,controlling said aperture, means for'holding the gate normally in closed position,` a discharge station along the path oi travel of the bucket. means associated. with the discharge station for iirst opening `the gate as it enters the station and for then closing I the gate as it leaves the station, means associated gate'being at all times out ofA actual contact with y the bucket'wall and the shroud. A l 6. In a .conveyer system, an endless chain, a series of successive conveyer buckets attached to and. adapted to travel withthe chain, the buck--`vets projecting'laterally all in the same direction from one side `of the chain, guide wheels about which the chain travels, the axes of rotation of the guide Wheels being on the side of the chain opposed to the buckets, each bucket in the sys-" tem being in overlapping relationship with the buckets on either side of it at all times except when the chain is traveling aroundthe sprockets, means' for filling the buckets from above in'f -a continuous stream, means assooiatedtherewith for limiting `the ll of the buckets to level lling.

'1. In a conveyer system, an endless chain, a series of successive conveyer buckets attached to and adapted to travel withbthe chain, fthe buckits projecting laterally all in..the same direc-V tion from one side of the chain, guide wheels about which the'chain travels, the axesv of rotation of the guide wheels beingon the side of the chain vopposed tothe buckets, each bucket in the system being in overlapping relationship with the bucketsY on either side'of it at all times exbuckets projecting laterally all in the same di rection from one side of the chain, guide wheels about which the chain travels, the axes of rotation ot the guide wheels being on the side of the chain opposed to the buckets, each bucket in the system being 'in overlapping relationship with the.

buckets on either side of it at all times except when the chain is traveling around the sprockets,

means for filling the buckets from above in a continuous stream, means associated therewith for limiting the iill of the buckets to level iilling, a track extending beneath the buckets throughout their entire travel, each bucket having a bottom discharge aperture, a gate associated with each bucket movable therewith traveling along the track and held by the track in ilow preventing position, a discharge hopper, the track being depressed in line with said hopper to cause opening oi' the bucket by gravity as the gate passes over the hopper.

9. In a conveyer system, an endless chain, a series of successive conveyer buckets attached to in the hopper separate from the cam means above referred to for holding the buckets in closed position as they travel across the discharge aperture, means operative in consonance with the travel of the buckets for periodically and intermittently moving said second bucket gate clodng means into and out of open position.

1 1. In a conveying system, a closed conduit, a plurality or buckets having bottom discharge ports and means for propelling them along the conduit, means for illling' the buckets, gates adapted to travel along the door o! the conduitlv and prevent ldischarge of material through the ports, there being at least one dischargelaperture in the iloor of theconduit, a cam member extending across the discharge aperture below the ilvel of the vconduit iloor adapted to guide the gate downwardly toward opening position and subsequently as the bucket travels forwardly to raise the gate to closingposition, the contour being such that gate movement from and toward the closing position is gradual and gentle, a hopper in close contact with the conduit adapted to receive the discharge from the bucket and means in the hopper separate from the cam means above referred to lor holding the buckets in closed position as they travel across the discharge aperture, means operative in consonance with the travel of the buckets for periodically and intermittently moving said second bucket gate closing means into and out of open position, said means being adapted to rest on and be supported by the material when it piles up in tha hopper, the means for moving said bucket closing and adapted to travel with the chain, the buckets projecting laterally all in the same direction from one side of the chain, guide wheels about which the chain travels, the axes of rotation of the guide wheels being on'the side of the chain opposed to the buckets, each bucket in the system being in overlapping relationship with the buckets on either side of it at all times except-when the chain is traveling around the sprocket/s, means for llingvthe buckets from above in a continuous stream, means associated therewith for limiting the iill of the buckets to level illling, a track extending beneath the buckets throughout their entire travel, each bucket having a bottom discharge aperture, a gate associated with each bucket movable therewith traveling along Ithe track and held by the track in flow preventing position, la discharge hopper, the track being depressed in line with said hopper to cause open-V ing of the bucket by gravity as the gate passes 'over `the hopper, additional track means and means for moving them into the path of the gate to prevent bucket opening movement. l

10.- In a conveying system, a closed conduit, a plurality oi' buckets having bottom discharge portsand means for propelling them along the conduit, means for iilling the buckets, gates adapted to travel along the floor of the conduitl and prevent discharge of material through the ports, there being at least one discharge aperture in the .oor of tire" conduit, a cam member extending across the discharge aperture below the level of the conduit iloor adapted to guide the gate downwardly toward opening position and subsequently as the bucket travels forwardly to raise the gate to closing position, the contour being such that gate movement from and toward the closing position is `gradual and gentle, a hopper in close contact with the conduit adapted to receive the discharge from the bucket and means means into the open position being inoperative when the means are supported by the material in the hopper.

12. In combination, a conveyer system including a closed conduit, a plurality of buckets and means for moving them along the conduit, the buckets having bottom discharge ports, aplurality of discharge apertures in the floor of the conduit, gates associated with the buckets movA able therewith for preventing discharge through the` ports, means associated with the. discharge apertures for selectively opening or closing the bucket gates as they pass across the dischargel apertures, means moving with the buckets adapted to scrapematerial which may be found on the floor, along the oor to discharge at the next successive discharge aperture.

13. A conveyer system including a series of buckets, means for conveying them in succession along a path, a discharge station on said path, said station including a, receiving element having an outlet, and means for controlling the ow of material from the buckets to the discharge station in response to accumulation of material in said receiving element, and for thereby preventing iiiling of said receiving element above a 'predetermined maximum level, including a discharge gate for each bucket and an inhibiting member movably mounted in such receiving element, said member when'in' elevated position being adapted to prevent the opening of said discharge gate as it passes over the receiving element, and means responsive to the movement of the buckets for elevating said inhibiting member through the material in the discharge station receiving -element, the material in the receviing element being adapted to prevent its downward movement when the material reaches a predetermined level in the receiving element. l

14. In a conveyer system, a series of buckets and means for conveying them in succession along a predetermined path, a plurality of discharge stations arranged along a path, each such station including a receiving hopper having a discharge outlet the discharge capacity of which is less than the maximum delivery capacity of the buckets to the hopper, and means for controlling the bucket discharge to any specic discharge station, including a discharge gate for each bucket, movable members mounted at each hopper and adapted when in raised position to prevent the opening of the bucket gates as the buckets pass across the hopper, and means movable with the buckets for periodically elevating said members to raised position, the material in the hopper being eiective, when it reaches a predetermined level, to support said members in raised'position after they havebeen elevated by said movable means.

15. In a conveyer system, a series of buckets and means forconveying them in succession along a predetermined path, a plurality of discharge stations arranged alongl the path, each such station including a receiving hopper having a disclosure element when a predetermined accumulation of material has built up at the station, including an inhibitive member responsive to the level of the mass of material accumulated at the station, and adapted positivelyto inhibit movement of said closure element toward open position.

18. In a conveyer system, an open-topped bucket having a bottom discharge aperture, means for conveying the bucket along a path,I a discharge station positioned on the fp'ath, and including a discharge member adapted to form,

charge outlet the discharge capacity of which is less than the maximumv delivery capacity of the buckets to the hopper, and means for controlling the bucket discharge to any speciflc discharge station, including a discharge gate for each bucket, movable members mounted at each hopper and adapted when in raised position to prevent the opening oi the bucket gates as the buckets pass across the hopper, levers associated with each said movable member, and lever contacting members, movable with thebuckets, for periodically elevating said members to raised position, the material in the hopper being effective when it reaches a predetermined level, to-support said members in raised position after they have been elevated.

16. In a conveyer system, a series of buckets and means for conveyingthem in succession along a predetermined path, fa plurality of discharge stations arranged along a path, each such station including a receiving hopper having a discharge outlet the discharge capacity of which is less than the maximum deliverycapacity of the buckets to the hopper, and means for controlling the bucket discharge to any specific discharge station, including 'a discharge gate for each bucket, movable members mounted at each hopper and adapted when in raised position to prevent the opening of the bucket gates as the bucketspass across the hopper, levers associated with each said movable member, and lever contacting members, movable with the buckets, for

periodically elevating said members to raised position, the material in the hopper being eiective, when it reaches a predetermined level, to support said members in raised position after they have been elevated, said contacting members being spaced along the series of buckets in predetermined .relationship to the discharge capacity of the receiving hoppers, the delivery capacity ofthe buckets andthe speed of movement of the bucket series.

11. In a conveyer system, an open-topped bucket and means for conveying it along a path, a discharge station positioned in said path, said bucket having a bottom opening and a movable closure element for said opening. movable -with as well as-in relation to the bucket, means for holding said closure element in closed position while the bucket is out of line with the station, said closure element being normallyfree to open when the bucket reaches the discharge station with the discharge aperture of the bucket, a discharge passage for the material in the bucket when the bucket is aligned with the discharge station, amovable closure member located in said dischargepassage, said closure member being normaily in the open position when the bucket is aligned with the station, and means responsive to the accumulation of material at said station, adapted to maintain said closure member in closed position when a predetermined amount of material has accumulated at the station, and for thereby positively preventing discharge from the bucket. said closure member, when in closed position, closing the bottom discharge aperture of the bucket. 19. In a conveyer system, an open-topped bucket having a bottom discharge aperture, means for conveying the bucket along a path, a discharge station positioned on the path, and including a discharge member adapted to form, with the discharge aperture of the bucket, a discharge passage for the material in the bucket when the bucket is aligned with the dis charge station, a movable closure member located in said discharge passage, said closure member being normally in the open position when the bucket is aligned with the station, and means responsive to the accumulation of material at said station, adapted to maintain said closure member in closed position when a predetermined amount of material has accumulated at the station, and for thereby positively preventing discharge from the bucket, said closure member being mounted on and movable with the bucket and being adapted to close the bottom discharge aperture of the bucket-when the closure member is in closed position.

20. In a conveyer system, an open-topped bucket having a bottom discharge aperture, means for conveying the bucket along a path, a dis charge station positioned on the path, and including a discharge member adapted to form, with the discharge aperture of thebucket, a discharge passage for the material in the bucket when the bucket is aligned with the discharge station, a movable closure member located in said discharge passage, said closure member being normally in the open position when the bucket is aligned with the station, and means responsive to the accumulation o f material at said station.

edges lying in a plane parallel with the path of' movement of the bucket, and means for .lling said bucket to a level substantially ush with the i10P vedges of the bucket.

. NELSON L. DAVIS. 

